Stryn is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Stryn. The municipality is located along the innermost part of the Nordfjorden. Some of the main villages in Stryn include Loen, Innvik, Utvik, Randabygda, Olden, and Flo.
Farming, forestry, fruit growing, animal breeding for furs, small manufacturing industries, tourism, and the service trades provide the main occupations. The river Stryneelva enters the village of Stryn from the east after passing through the Stryn Valley, from the large lake Oppstrynsvatn. The Jostedalsbreen National Park Centre is on the shore of the lake.
Stryn has all year glacier skiing at Stryn Sommerski. It is also the home of the footballer-brothers Tore André Flo, Jarle Flo and Jostein Flo, who grew up in the village of Stryn, as well as their footballing-cousin Håvard Flo who is from the village of Flo.
The municipality is the 67th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Stryn is the 140th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 7,244. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 2% over the previous 10-year period.
General information
Innvik was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The original municipality was identical to the Innvik parish
(prestegjeld) with the sub-parishes (sokn) of
Oppstryn,
Nedstryn, Loen, Olden,
Innvik, and
Utvik. In 1843, the sub-parishes of Loen, Oppstryn, and Nedstryn were separated from the municipality of Innvik and became a separate municipality named
Stryn. The population of
Stryn at this time was 2,401. On 10 January 1922, the area of Raksgrenda was transferred from Innvik to Stryn. The population in this area was 120 at that time.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, a merger took place combining the following areas into a new Stryn municipality:
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the municipality of Innvik (population: 3,003)
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the municipality of Stryn (population: 2,982)
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the parts of Hornindal Municipality located east of the villages of Navelsaker and Holmøyvik (population: 1,184)
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the Hoplandsgrenda area in the municipality of Gloppen (population: 42)
Initially, this new municipality of Stryn had a population of 7,211.
On 1 January 1977, the parts of the old Hornindal Municipality that were merged with Stryn in 1965 were transferred back to the newly re-constituted Hornindal municipality. The population of Stryn was reduced by 1,202 in this transaction.
On 1 January 2019, the Maurset area in the southern part of the neighboring Hornindal Municipality (population: 19) was transferred from Hornindal to Stryn.
On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly created Vestland county after Sogn og Fjordane and Hordaland counties were merged.
Name
The municipality (originally the
prestegjeld) is likely named after the local river
Stryneelva (). The name is derived from the word strjónn which means "(strong)
stream".
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 11 December 1987. The official
blazon is
"Vert, a linden branch Or bend sinister with four leaves" (). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a linden (
tilia) branch with four leaves. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The linden was chosen to represent the vast deciduous forests in the region, the branch represents the main fjord through the municipality, and the four leaves were chosen to represent the four main village areas along the fjord. The arms were designed by Heidi Heggdal. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.
Churches
The Church of Norway has eight parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Stryn. It is part of the
Nordfjord prosti (
deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.
| Churches in Stryn
!Parish (sokn)!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built |
| 1863 |
| 1859 |
| 1838 |
| 1822 |
| 1840 |
| 1934 |
| 1772 |
| 1924 |
| 1916 |
| 1973 |
Government
Stryn Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient
Health care,
old age services,
welfare spending and other
Social work,
zoning, economic development, and municipal
and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of
Direct election representatives. The
mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.
The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Sogn og Fjordane District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.
Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Stryn is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political
Political party.
Mayors
The
mayor (ordførar) of a municipality in Norway is a representative of the majority party of the municipal council who is elected to lead the council. The mayors of Stryn:
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1843–1844: Arent Uchermann
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1845–1845: Ole Vik
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1846–1847: Harald Kolbeinsson Gutdal
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1848–1851: Peter L. Brandt
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1853–1855: Peter L. Brandt
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1857–1859: G. A. Heiberg
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1860–1863: Jon Nilsson Seime
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1864–1890: Arne Olsson Tonning
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1890–1910: Sigmund Kolbeinsen Aarnes
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1913–1928: Rasmus Larsson Skåre
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1928–1928: Per Nedreberg
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1929–1937: Per Lunde
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1938–1940: Per Nedreberg
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1941–1945: Nils Bergem
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1945–1945: Per Nedreberg
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1946–1952: Jon Øvre-Flo
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1952–1959: Rasmus Langeset
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1960–1964: Audun Næss
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1965–1971: Knut Mork
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1972–1975: Mathias Hilde
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1976–1976: Paul Svarstad (H)
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1977–1983: Leiv Blakset (Sp)
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1984–1987: Oddvin Drageset (Sp)
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1988–1991: Inger Hoff (H)
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1992-1999: Oddvin Drageset (Sp)
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1999-2011: Nils Petter Støyva (Ap)
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2011-2019: Sven Flo (H)
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2019-present: Per Kjøllesdal (Sp)
Geography
Location
Stryn is located on the northern border of
Vestland county. To the north, Stryn is bordered by Volda Municipality and Stranda Municipality (in Møre og Romsdal county), to the east is Skjåk Municipality (in
Innlandet county), to the southeast is Luster Municipality, to the southwest is Sunnfjord Municipality, and to the west is Gloppen Municipality and Stad Municipality.
Nature
Stryn is known for its scenery,
and the mountains running into the mirroring
and lakes. The glacier
Briksdalsbreen lies in the
Oldedalen valley. The Stryn area also has a number of other valley glaciers including
Tindefjellbreen,
Tystigsbreen, and
Myklebustbreen. Most of the valley glaciers in Stryn are originating from the great
Jostedal glacier (
Jostedalsbreen) between the
Nordfjord and
Sogn areas.
Ramnefjellsfossen, the third highest free-falling waterfall in the world, is located in the municipality. Stryn also has the largest tilia forest in Northern Europe. The largest lakes are Oppstrynsvatn, Lovatnet, and Oldevatnet. The mountains Skåla, Lodalskåpa, and Høgstre Breakulen are all located in Stryn.
Jostedal Glacier National Park
The Jostedalsbreen National Park has an area of approximately . Flora and fauna area is situated between the fjord and
glacier. The museum Jostedalsbreen nasjonalparksenter is located in Oppstryn.
Briksdal glacier
Visitors from all over the world come to see the
Briksdalsbreen glacier outlet, which is situated amid waterfalls and high peaks. Briksdal
glacier is a part of the
Jostedal glacier
ice field, which is the largest glacier on the European mainland. The highest point of the glacier lies at above sea level and in some places it measures in depth. It is located at the end of the
Oldedalen valley.
Lodalen–Kjenndalen
On two occasions, large rockslides from
Ramnefjellet hit the lake below. The resulting flood wave wiped out the settlements of Nesdal and Bødal, killing 135 people.
Wildlife
There are many bird species in this area including the
golden eagle (
Aquila chrysaetos), rough-legged buzzard (
Buteo lagopus), and the white-backed woodpecker (
Dendrocopus leucotos). Some of the larger mammals that live in this region are red deer (
Cervus elaphus),
(
Gulo gulo), and
Eurasian lynx (
Lynx lynx).
Attractions
National Tourist Route
The Gamle Strynefjellsvegen is a National Tourist Route (Fylkesvei 258). It goes from
Grotli (Skjåk municipality in
Innlandet county) to
Videseter, where a waterfall is, and on to the village of Stryn (
Vestland county).
Stryn Center
The village of Stryn, a busy and developing small village at the tip of the most northernly of the three short branches at the inner end of Nordfjorden, is the local government and shopping centre for a large community and the junction of roads which connect inner Nordfjord with the rest of
Norway.
Oldedalen Valley
The southernmost of the three short branches at the inner end of Nordfjorden terminates at the village of Olden from which a lovely valley, Oldedalen, goes due south for about between slopes rising sharply to more than to the edge of the
Jostedalsbreen.
Olden has two churches. The Old Olden Church in the village, was built in 1759 on the site of a Stave church dating from around 1300. Its pews, doors, and jambs are made from timbers of the Stave church. The "new" Olden Church, a short distance along the valley, was built in 1934 so that the old church could be preserved.
Loen and Lodalen Valley
The
Loen Skylift is located in Loen, and Hotel Alexandra is a popular tourist retreat. Loen Valley (Lodalen) is a popular attraction, and Kjenndal Glacier is located at the end of the valley (branch of the
Jostedal Glacier). Much of the upper Loen valley was devastated from two rockfall slides (one in 1905 and one in 1936) that created huge waves that swept with them most of the houses and vegetation. A total of 135 people were killed in these two incidents.
Innvik and Utvik
On the southern shore of the Nordfjorden, between Hildaneset and Utvikfjellet, lie the villages of Innvik and
Utvik, in the area known as Vikane. The main road (Rv 60) skirts the fjord past Innvik and ascends from Utvik to Utvikfjellet mountain. At Hildaneset, beside the main road, there is a sculpture of Mr. Singer. Mr Singer financed the building of the road.
Notable people
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Alf Torp (1853 in Stryn – 1916), a Norwegian philologist and author
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Jacob Aaland (1865 in Randabygda – 1950), a teacher, local historian, and government scholar
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Thoralf Klouman (1890 in Innvik – 1940), a Norwegian satirical illustrator and actor
[. Retrieved 18 September 2020.]
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Johannes Andenæs (1912 in Innvik – 2003), a distinguished Norwegian jurist and academic
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Inge Fænn (born 1945 in Markane), a Norwegian editor, journalist and author
Sport
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Per Knut Aaland (born 1954 in Randabygda), a retired cross-country skier and team silver medallist at the 1980 Winter Olympics
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brothers Kjell Rune Flo (born 1961), Jostein Flo (born 1964), Jarle Flo (born 1970), Tore André Flo (born 1973) and cousins Håvard Flo (born 1970), Per-Egil Flo (born 1989) and nephew Ulrik Flo (born 1988), footballers from Flo and Stryn
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Mats Solheim (born 1987 in Loen), a Norwegian footballer with over 320 club caps
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Johannes Thingnes Bø (born 1993 in Stryn), a biathlete, gold medallist, and twice team silver medallist at the 2018 Winter Olympics
External links
